A Secret Shared
by Selmersaurus
Summary: A canon re-telling of the show "Roswell" from the point of Maria DeLuca and Michael Guerin, with more focus on their relationship and what we didn't see. Rated Teen for now, but it will become more mature as the story goes on.
1. Chapter 1

**"A Secret Shared"**

**Author**: Selmersaurus

**Disclaimer**: I do not own any content related to the show "Roswell", nor do I own any of the characters.

**Rating**: I'm starting the rating as Teen, but it will definitely get more mature as the chapters go on.

Hi, my name is Maria. Some people might say that I'm an ordinary sixteen year old girl. They would be wrong. Because most sixteen year old girls do not deal with the problems I deal with. I always knew I was destined for something extraordinary, but I had no idea it would turn out like this.

To start with, I'm a waitress at the Crashdown with my best friend Liz. Her parents own the joint. I make enough in tips to pay for little things and the gas for driving my mom's car…when she lets me. There aren't a lot of places around here to drive to, though, because…you see…I live in Roswell, New Mexico. As in the epicenter of alien conspiracy theories. So amidst all this madness, here I am on a totally normal day working my butt off to get coffees for tourists.

I saunter over to two fatso's arguing. They've been at that table forever and all they've managed to order are coffees. "Refill?" I ask. "No, get outta here." Okay that's my cue to leave. I can tell when I'm not getting a tip.

So, while Liz is serving this weirdo tourist couple their food (a "Sigourney Weaver" and a "Will Smith"…get the theme?) she hands them a fake alien picture. We're not really supposed to do that. Her dad frowns on it or something. But we've both realized that most people who come to Roswell wanna hear about the freaky, you know? So why not give the people what they want? A little personal story about seeing things, or a picture, or a government hush up? They love it.

"You are so bad, girl," I say over my shoulder to Liz. "Oh, and Max Evans is staring at you again."

Liz looks at me incredulously. "No way. Maria, that is _so_ in your imagination. Max Evans? This?" She points to her face. "No."

Liz has no idea how beautiful she is. Unlike me, who has been cursed with paleness in a land of eternal sun, Liz is tan with straight chocolatey hair, big brown eyes, and an adorable smile. Not to mention her petite figure. And I'm not making up what I said, either. Any person with eyes could see that not only is Liz a cutie, but that Max Evans knows it too. He's always coming in here with that weird friend of his and sitting in the booth with the best view of Liz. But, if she doesn't wanna believe me...I walk over to her and start pinching her cheeks. "And with these cheeks, preciosa tan linda?"

She starts giggling. "Maria, no! Okay? And even if I weren't, I'm going out with Kyle." She leans against the counter and looks introspective. "He's steady and loyal and…he appreciates me."

I push past her on my way back to a table. "Sounds like you're describing a poodle."

As I'm rounding the counter, the two jerks from my table abruptly stand up. They're arguing and I can't tell what they're saying, but it looks heated. All of the sudden, one of them pulls a gun from his waistband. I scream and everyone in the diner scrambles to the floor. My face is pressed to the linoleum when I hear it. One gun shot. Then quiet. "Let's get outta here!" one of the guys yells. I hear the glass door swing open and slam shut and then silence. I lift my head and peek out of one eye. Everything looks okay...but...where's Liz?

I hear voices and I look to my right. Max Evans is getting out of the booth and heading towards the back of the restaurant, when that friend of his, Michael Guerin grabs his arm. "What are you doing?" he yells at Max.

"Let go of me!" Max says back to him. I've never seen him look so panicked before. He yells for someone to call an ambulance. I run to the phone and as I do I see Liz's legs sticking out from behind the counter. It looks like she's not moving!

"Hello? Please! There's been a shooting at the Crashdown! Yes! Two men, they left on foot. My friend is hurt! Please hurry!" As I'm rounding the counter again to go towards where Liz and Max are, Michael Guerin blocks my way.

"Excuse me...my friend..." I start to say, but he grabs my arm and doesn't let me past. He has this strange look on his face and I feel even more frightened. Suddenly, Michael lets go of my arm and turns around to toss car keys to Max. And they run out. Whatever, I don't have time for those weirdos so I run to Liz, who is sitting up on the floor with her dress pulled open, exposing her bra, and with a big red splatter all over her. "Liz, are you okay?" She doesn't even look at me. She just sits there clutching her uniform and staring after Max Evans.

I gotta admit that it took me a long time to calm down. I tried talking to the deputy about them two men, but he didn't seem interested in my input. "The guy on the right was like a muscular Beevis, you know? And the other guy was like a beefy Butthead." Okay, not my most descriptive sentence ever, but I'm freaked out! Cut me a break!

"I'm gonna need a better description than that. I'm assuming they weren't actually cartoons," the deputy says.

"Excuse me…" I say as I pull a little bottle of cedar oil out of my pocket. My mom says it helps reduce stress. But my stress level is definitely not going down. I watch the conversation that goes on between Liz and the Sheriff, and I just don't understand why he's talking to her like she did something wrong? She was just shot at! It's a miracle that girl wasn't shot. I don't understand why the sheriff and that tourist couple are so obsessed with Liz, instead of trying to find those criminals. And if I'm being honest with myself, why the hell is Liz so calm right now?

After spending a restless night completely unable to sleep I walk into homeroom and turn towards the seat that Liz is always in. But it's empty. Liz and I have been best friends since...well, since forever. She is the one stable and reliable force in my crazy life. She is like the peanut butter to my jelly, you know? She's the exact opposite of me and I love her for it. So when Liz comes walking into homeroom late (which she never does) and sits next to Pam Troy (who she hates) I know something is wrong. When I try talking to Alex, our mutual friend who is a guy (but most of the time you forget and treat him like one of the girls), he insists that I'm just being paranoid.

"Yeah, yeah, Maria, I'm listening to you, but this is just you being you, alright? Liz is fine. Nothing happened. It's all right here in black and white," he says, while pointing the newspaper that states that shots were fired but no one was injured.

When I run into Liz later in the day in the bathroom, I try to confront her.

"So I called, like, 37 times."

All she says is, "I know, I'm sorry."

"Liz, what happened yesterday?"

She turns around and looks at me. "What do you mean, Maria? You were there. You _saw_ everything." The way she says it makes me uncomfortable. Am I supposed to believe what I saw in this situation, because I don't understand what I saw. And I definitely don't understand what I found at the Crashdown after the cops left...Liz's order pad covered in red with a bullet hole through it.

I dig it out of my bag and hold it up. "Did I? Cuz, umm, this isn't ketchup. This looks a lot like blood to me." I move towards her. "What did Max do to you?"

Just when I think I might get an answer from her, she dries her hands and walks out of the bathroom. Right…like I'm gonna give up that easily.

I get out of my mom's car in a green velour bodysuit, with a sequin cape, kicky boots, and a neon green wig. Not usually my style, but I'm picking Liz up for the annual Crash Festival. It's not my usual look, but I had gotten my outfit together before everything at the Crashdown happened, so I might as well go through with my attempt to look like a sexy, bad-ass alien chick. I walk into Liz's room and step up onto the end of her bed, striking a pose that I'm hoping portrays confidence and power. I went through everything in my head all day and I figured that this would be my last ditch effort to get her to open up.

"Before we got to this idiotic crash festival I want to know everything. And if you don't tell me the truth right now, I'm gonna go to Valenti myself and tell him everything I know"

She looks at me cautiously. "What do you know?"

I take a deep breath. "Well, I know that Max was in the diner that day, and I know that when you were shot he went up to you and _did_ something. And I know that the one person in the world that I thought I could completely trust…is lying to me.

Liz leans forwards and takes my hands. "You have to promise me that you are not gonna flip out."

I raise my eyebrows. "Flip out? Hey, it's me!"

"Max Evans is not human. He's an alien."

I pull my hands back and huff. "You've gotta be kidding me. Either you think I'm really gullible or you've been working at the Crashdown too long."

Grabbing my hands again she says, "I got shot and I was bleeding and he came over and... he laid his hand on my stomach, and next thing I know he's looking at me and telling me I'm gonna be alright and then running out..."

Silence. Is she serious? I know Liz. And Liz isn't a liar. Which means..."I...I..."

I run out of her room and down the stairs. I can hear the heavy footsteps as she follows me down the stairs and through the diner.

"He saved my life!" she yells.

I don't bother to slow down. I can't think, not yet. "So now you're keeping secrets from your best friend in order to protect an _alien_?"

As I hop into my mom's car I see Liz jumping into the passenger's seat. "Liz…Liz what happened to you? You were on this whole valedictorian path, you know? You were on your way to be this world renowned scientist! And I was gonna be your wacky friend! But where does this leave me? I can't be a wacky friend to someone who's already wacky…"

"You're babbling right now…" she interrupts me.

I narrow my eyes. "I think I've earned the right to babble. Okay? Just deal with it." I know I'm being irrational right now, but I'm pretty sure that learning that there are aliens out there in the universe and they have been going to class with me since the third grade is grounds for irrationality.

"Oh my god, Maria," Liz says, pointing at a jeep in the oncoming lane. "That's them! Cut a U-y!"

"Cut a U-y? Who are you?" I screech as Liz grabs the steering wheel and turns. "Oh my god, you are a _crazy person_!"

"Maria, please! Just catch them!"

"Just catch them? Liz...we're in a _Jetta_!" I'm pretty sure this car is barely even recovering from that Steve McQueen stunt we just pulled. I see the jeep pull off into an alley on the right and I follow and come to a stop. Liz and I get out of the car and slowly start walking down the alley towards the jeep. It takes me a moment for me to realize what I'm seeing, but it's not just Max that's walking towards us.

"Okay, why are they here? Don't tell me there's three…"

"Well…"

As we come to a stop near the three people who came out of the jeep I look down at the concrete. "I think I'm gonna be sick." It's Max Evans, Michael Guerin, and Isabel Evans, and none of them look happy. Max Evans? Okay, fine, I always thought he was cute in a puppy dog kinda way and seemed harmless enough. But his bitchy sister Isabel walking towards us looking like a fembot and the weird criminal kid Michael walking between them? No thanks. I keep my eyes down until Liz finally talks. "Maria knows."

Isabel sighs obnoxiously and Michael says, "Unbelievable."

I feel a little offended, but part of me understand their concern, so I offer up a token of peace. "Look, I _promise_ I won't tell _anyone_."

Michael steps forward menacingly and looks at Liz, so I look down and take a step back. Maybe his alien powers are blowing people up or aging them by fifty years?! But I don't like the way he's looking at us.

"Get your car out of the way. _Now_."

Liz turns her attention to Max. "I really don't think that you should try to leave. It's just gonna show people that you're guilty."

"Guilty of what? Saving your life?" spits Michael.

So quietly that I barely hear it, Max says, "Michael."

"Look, I think I've an idea here. If we can just all work together, maybe we can throw Valenti off," Liz offers helpfully. I keep thinking to myself that this girl is brave and all, but she is crazy!

"We're not together." Michael gestures at himself, Max and Isabel. "_Our_ lives are at stake, not yours. Now, move your car."

Max steps forward and pulls Michael's arm towards him. "Michael…This can't last forever. This secret. And I don't want it to."

Now I feel like I'm intruding on something that I definitely shouldn't be there for. Max is pleading with Michael. And Michael looks so angry. Why does he have to be such a jerk about all of this?

Always the peacemaker, Liz says, "Look, I can't change what happened. But if you run, Valenti's gonna know it's you. You'll be proving it for him." I nod in agreement and Max tells Michael that she's right, which makes Isabel say quietly to Max, "Should've known you'd side with her."

Max looks a little hurt. "Isabel, I'm not on anyone's side, alright?"

Fear flashes across Isabel's face before she pushes it back into a mask of control. "Then get on a side, Max, because time is running out!"

Max looks at Michael, who lifts one eye brow. What are they thinking? Are they going to kill us so we can't talk? No...why would Max save Liz's life just to kill us. I've known these guys my whole life, even if I haven't liked them the whole time.

Max turns to Liz and says, "She should move the car." My heart drops and Isabel and Michael look pleased, until he says, "I'm turning myself in to Valenti."

"Max, we said we were leaving," Michael protests.

Isabel pleads, "Max, I can't leave without you!" And I think, so they do have hearts after all. Max isn't the only one.

Isabel steps towards us, looking like this is the last things in the world she wants to be doing right now, and I guess I don't entirely blame her. "What's your idea?"

So here we are, walking around at this stupid festival with a bunch of other alien losers and I'm supposed to be pretending that I'm an alien when there's a real one standing right next to me. Who, did I mention, looks like a fembot? Geez, a girl can feel _really_ unattractive standing next to Isabel Evans. Also, it's kind of hard making small talk with someone who clearly hates me. And sure enough, my poor friend Alex gets sucked right into her hot chick tractor beam. So I don't even answer him when he tries to talk to me because he needs to stay out of this, for his own safety. I wish he didn't have to look so hurt, though.

We walk through the parking lot and she points at the ground. Gritting my teeth, I obediently get down onto my stomach and roll back and forth. Yes, universe, _this_ is my idea of fun. I love having Isabel Evans commanding me to roll around on the ground.

As I go to hand her my car keys, so that she can do her part in Liz's plan, I say, "I know my mom's car doesn't look like much, but not destroying it is the key to me and my mothers' relationship."

"Whatever," is Isabel's only reply, as she walks away and gets into my mom's car, leaving me lying there on the dusty ground.

So I lie there on the ground as Isabel revs the engine of my mother's car, drives forward, and slams on the brakes at the last second. My eyes are closed. I hear someone yelling in the distance as another person crouches over my body. I know it's Michael dressed in the same costume as the sheriff's son to confuse him, and being this close to him makes me even more nervous. His hands lightly grip my arm and one hand of his presses on my chest. Then he's gone and I hear yelling. Next thing I know, the sheriff is "waking" me up. I have always wanted to be an actress and this is my time to shine. My eyes flutter open and I take a deep breath. He asks me if I'm okay. "Yeah…I think so." Just then someone in the crowd yells for the sheriff and he takes off. I did it!

As I walk through the festival looking for Liz and dusting myself off, grumbling under my breath about the difficulties of cleaning velour, my eyes stop on three figures standing by the fence. They're watching the mock-up crash that they put on every year at this thing. But this time, the incinerated bodies of the alien dummies lying on the ground make me shiver.


	2. Chapter 2

**"A Secret Shared" – Chapter 2: The Morning After**

**Author:** Selmersaurus

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any content related to the show "Roswell", nor do I own any of the characters.

**Rating:** I'm starting the rating as Teen, but it will definitely get more mature as the chapters go on.

Okay, so I've been let in on the biggest secret of the century, but I still feel like I have no idea what's going on.

"I mean, what do we even know about these people? Nothing! How do we know if they're not three feet tall and slimey?" I try asking Liz these important questions, but she just brushes me off.

"And you know what else doesn't particularly please me? These powers! How do we know they can't just, like, wiggle their noses and just poof us into oblivion?"

Liz continues fixing her hair and looking in the mirror. We're getting ready for our shifts at the Crashdown and I'm wearing my typical uniform, a blue dress with an alien antennae headband and a black choker for self expression. I don't have time to look in the mirror and confirm how cute I look with my pixie haircut, because I'm too preoccupied by my life suddenly turning into the alien version of "Bewitched". Liz, however, is less concerned.

"I guess we don't," she nonchalantly replies.

"Okay, you are being so casual about this that I want to choke you. Liz! We are dealing with aliens…" Liz slaps her hand over my mouth just as the dishwasher guy walks back into the kitchen. We both wait a couple of seconds to see if he heard us.

"Can you please not say that when we're in public?" Liz asks calmly.

I take a deep breath and nod. I can be reasonable. But she'd better not think this means I'm not going to voice my concerns. In fact, I think I have a word in mind.

As I walk out with her into the restaurant carrying a tray I try again. "My point is, we don't know anything about these _Czechoslovakians_. Are they _good_ Czechoslovakians? _Bad_ Czechoslovakians? We don't know. They're just random Czechoslovakians. For all we know they don't have their passport." Okay, maybe I lost my point there at the end, but still!

Behind me I hear, "Who's Czechoslovakian?" Liz and I start and turn around, already trying to think up excuses.

"Hey!" Liz and I say in high pitched voices that make Alex furrow his brow.

"Uh…so who's Czechoslovakian?"

We both start talking at the same time. I claim that the said Czechoslovakian is at the hardware store and Liz says someone from school….great job, ladies.

"The new kid at school…who works at the hardware store," Liz clarifies. Thank god.

"Oh. What about him," Alex tries.

"Nothing!"

"Fantastic…" he says. I'm getting the feeling he's a little suspicious. It could be the expression of "you guys are insane" on his face at the moment. Just as I turn and walk away, thanking the gods that I didn't say something stupid and make everything worse, who do you think I see staring through the diner window at us?

"Czechoslovakian…nine o'clock…" I warn Liz. I'm rooted to the floor as I make eye contact with that Michael Guerin kid, with his hair all ridiculous and looking all intimidating. He's bent forward and looking through the glass door and staring right at me. I feel like I can't move. And just as soon as I see him, he turns and saunters away.

"Okay…that guy creeps me out," I tell Liz and hurry back into the kitchen, to get as far away from Michael Guerin as possible. And maybe so I can stop thinking about how soulful his eyes were.

When I meet up with Liz the next day at school for lunch I can tell she's upset about something.

"It's impossible that she's not who she says she is, right?" she asks me, talking about the new algebra teacher and guidance counselor Ms. Topolsky. Apparently when she discovered Michael Guerin's absence from class she found it suspicious and asked some questions. Why this is at all surprising to Liz, I'm not sure. But I'm more than willing to discuss identity conspiracy theories.

"Well, no one is who they say they are, but what do you mean exactly?"

She slows down and looks confused for a moment, and then unclenches her jaw and says, "Forget it." Oh no, girl, you can't just start me going and then end the discussion.

"What, like she's a spy?" I ask. My mind starts whirring through all of the things I've ever heard about government secrets and innocent citizens unknowingly trapped by them.

"No. Don't be ridiculous."

I barely even register what she just said before I voice, "Cause that kind of stuff happens, you know."

Liz looks at me with an expression of exasperation and says, "Now you're being crazy." Well, of course I'm being crazy, that's what I _do_. But that doesn't mean I'm not sometimes _right_. She relents and says, "Go on, go on."

"Well, think about it, okay? She takes attendance? What substitute teacher takes attendance? My _god_, the whole thing is so Roswellian!" I bring my hands up to tug on my short, blonde hair and then drop them as I say, "I'm tellin' you, Liz. She's been sent here."

"Why would she be sent here?" Liz asks. Sometimes I am amazed at her lack of imagination.

"To find the Czechoslovakians," I reply. Duh. Where would she be without me?

Liz looks at me and just as I think she's about to compliment my Sherlock Holmesian skills, she says, "Sniff some cedar oil, Maria."

I pull out the cedar oil, but don't let the issue drop. "Which makes me feel that much more about what I already told you about this, which is that we should definitely, definitely, definitely tell Alex."

Liz protests immediately. "No! Maria? We mustn't tell anyone! Ever! Ever."

"Mustn't? When have you ever said 'mustn't'? Look. We need someone with a little perspective, kay? There's all this stuff happening and it's _dangerous_. The other day the sheriff asked me all these questions and now it's this Topolsky person poking around. You know, that's what they do. They send in special government task forces. _Alien hunters_. Kay? And suddenly, we're like, accessories to Czechoslovakians." Not to mention the small annoyance of getting stalked by Czechoslovakians. "We need Alex in this."

Liz looks like she's thinking it over for a moment, until her eyes focus on something over my shoulder. Whatever it is, she looks like she's just found proof that she's right. I look where she's pointing to see Alex contorting his arms around his head for a group of girls. He looks like an idiot savant.

Okay, I can still do this. "Admittedly, he's not James Bond, but he's all we've got right now." We watch as the girls laugh at Alex and walk away. The truth of my statement depresses me. Before walking away, I manage to warn Liz that Kyle Valenti, her supposed boy-toy, is heading towards her. Liz appears to think that Kyle won't be a problem, but I can tell he's lovestruck. And I don't want to be around for the conversation when she realizes that too.

Okay, so I'm talking to Liz in the bathroom, and I am definitely right! The so-called substitute teacher was snooping into Michael Guerin's records. Liz caught her red-handed when they bumped into each other in the hall. Her cover as an algebra teacher is a pretty flimsy one since a lot of people today were talking about how she doesn't know the basics of algebra and tried to teach the class that the sum of angles in a triangle is 360 degrees. I'm pretty sure that even _I_ know that's not correct.

Liz also mentioned that she went to Michael Guerin's house. Or rather, Hank Guerin's trailer. I guess Mr. Guerin came to the door in his underwear and didn't even invite Liz in. He also apparently referred to Michael as "Mickey". How hilarious is that? It did make me sad, though, the way that Liz described how run down the trailer was and how the whole place smelled like stale beer. And Michael thanked her. I can't stop trying to picture Michael Guerin thanking anyone for something.

But Liz calls me back to the issue at hand. On a piece of loose-leaf in messy boy writing is scrawled, "MEET ME IN THE 2ND FLOOR ERASER ROOM 6TH PERIOD, MAX". Now this peaks my interest. "The eraser room? Huh. Liz, do you know what the second floor eraser room means?" I don't want her to go into this situation unaware, you know?

"Of course I know what it means," she hastily says as she applies lip gloss. Then we make eye contact. "What does it mean?"

Just to make sure my point gets across I say, "It's where Greg Coleman gave Marlene Garcia that hickey the size of a softball. It's where Richie Rowel and Amanda Lourdes…_consummated _everything…" I look at her and raise my eyebrows suggestively.

"Okay, Maria, you know what? You're just making this into something that it's not."

"Liz, I don't think you should do this, okay? I mean, we don't know what can happen. The guy touched you and you saw into his soul. How do we know what happens if he kisses you? How do we know what it is to be kissed by a Czechoslovakian? You _don't!_" Wow, does it sound like I've been thinking about this a lot?

"Okay, Maria? No one is kissing anyone here. Max isn't even the least bit interested in me. He said things are supposed to be just like they used to be before. Nothing's changed. He said that."

I shake my head. "Oh my god, it's not just kissing that goes on in the eraser room."

Shawna Kessler overhears and says knowingly, "She's got that right."

"The eraser does two things: Cleans erasers and takes our innocence." I peer at her closely. "Do you know what I mean by 'takes our innocence', Liz? The eraser room has taken some of the best of us." And with that thought, I leave her.

Later that night I'm at the Crashdown trying to deal with some difficult and potentially illiterate customers when Liz comes running in and pulls me away.

"I need you to cover for me," she says. Why am I not surprised?

"When?"

"Tonight."

"Oooh nooo, it's a zoo," I say as some lardo in a Tommy Bahama shirt starts complaining. "Okay, so one trip to the eraser room and you're, like, above working? Go get your uniform on, Madonna! The masses are demanding greasy alien-themed food, and by god it is our job to serve it to them."

As I start to steer her back towards she kitchen she interrupts me. "No, look Maria, this is really important. I promise to tell you everything later. You're the best. But right now, I gotta go."

I throw my arms up in exasperation as she walks off. As annoyed as I am right now to have my night ruined like this, she can be pretty adorable when she's complimenting me. So I'm feeling sympathetic when Alex stops her and says, "I want some answers. First of all, there're rumors going around saying that last week you were shot here at the café. At the crash festival you," pointing at me, "were seemingly run over by a car, but then you weren't. And every time I walk up to the two of you, you go completely silent or make up some story about Czechoslovakia, which is a country that has not existed _for ten years_. So I want the truth, and I want it now!"

Liz grabs his sweatshirt and drags him somewhere more secluded. "Alex, the reason we keep changing the subject is..."

"Cramps!" I interrupt. "We have cramps, Alex!"

"Yeah!" Liz looks relieved. "And we didn't even wanna talk about it in front of you because we thought that it would just make you feel really uncomfortable."

Seeing the opportunity to scare Alex into leaving, I say, "But if you really wanna know, we can tell you."

"And in excruciating detail," adds Liz.

"No!" Alex waves us away with his arms. As he walks away he says, "I'm eating."

Thank god for the squeamishness of boys! Liz squeezes my arm in thanks and then runs off. I can't help from wondering how long I can keep this secret.


End file.
